Great British Bake Off 2017: Behind the scenes pictures from the new line-up, Prue Leith, Noel Fielding, Sandi Toksvig and Paul Hollywood.

An insider told the newspaper: “The sheer arrogance of it all is astonishing. Not only has the BBC effectively ripped off Love formats and made their own, they are stonewalling existing shows that have been good for ratings for them.”

They continued: “Sewing Bee and Pottery Throwdown have both done really well but now their hosts have both been nicked for other BBC shows.

“There’s a view in the industry that the BBC is acting out of spite and not in the best interest of the licence fee payer.”

BBC

Sara Cox on The Great Pottery Throwdown

BBC

The future of Creme de la Creme is also said to hang in the balance

Meanwhile, a BBC source added: “This is odd as Claudia and Sara are established BBC talent and and you can’t poach talent you already have.

"On top of that we’ve made a cracking offer for another series of Sewing Bee.

“Love have a lot riding on moving Bake Off to Channel 4 and are clearly feeling the heat.”

Express.co.uk has contacted a representative for the BBC asking for comment.